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”And the winner for Best Survival Experience is… 99 Nights in the Forest!”
Grappler’s hook quickly made contact with the small CRT television that had been sitting in the corner for so long. It had displayed Robloxia’s Innovation Awards, originally to mock them by showing them the world they lost when they were forsaken to the void.
But this?
“Cover the child’s ears,” Operator mumbled to Kolona, who quickly moved to hold Baby close.
“Bullshit!” Charger exclaimed, throwing their arms in the air. “We lost? To a fucking low-budget game?!”
“It appears so,” Cadence replied, crossing one leg over the other. The void had been so gracious to give them all Robloxian-like forms and voices when players weren’t around.
“We’ve been stuck here for ages, but sure, give the win to the build-a-fort simulator!”
“C’mon, Charge, you’re overreacting,” Diver commented. “We’ll win next year.”
“You said that last year.”
“At least we actually got nominated this time…” Kolóna sighed. Baby was still in her lap, and started crying. The void explorers all jumped at the sound, expecting the child to rush at them. Kolóna gave the child a pacifier, finally calming him down. “Robloxia’s admins seem to be rough on games that aren’t popular. As good of a game the players say we are, we aren’t as popular as 99 Nights.”
“Hold onto that for a sec, Kols, I got an idea,” Telefragger chimed in, teleporting behind her. “I say we kill the deer. Devs’ll just respawn it anyway.”
“And you think you can get out of here?” ICBM stood, dusting off his military-like uniform, target eye landing on Telefragger’s stupid smirk. “Moderation will snipe you down.”
“Yeah, whatever, gramps, I can just teleport and kill it myself.”
“Doesn’t that game have cultists?”
“Couple of guys in robes don’t scare me,” Telefragger shrugged. “I’d sooner admit the only true Robloxian in this place is scary.”
“Go on, then,” Sam called out from behind a table, already writing their newest discoveries on how the void seemed to work. “Call me scary.”
Telefragger ignored their request and pointed at Grappler and Charger. “You two are going with me. I need you to distract it by swinging in front of it, and I need you to charge into it ‘n shove it into the void.”
“Hell no,” Prisoner’s chains rattled as they spoke. “What dies in the void respawns in the void. Kill it there.”
“We literally live by Wreck-It Ralph logic. Just take it outside its game n kill it, we’ll be fine.”
Prisoner shot Telefragger a look.
“Fine. Buzzkill. Take it into Robloxia and kill it?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“Alright, boys, tonight, we kill the deer!” Telefragger’s warning siren blared as it grabbed their wrists, teleporting alongside the two into 99 Nights in the Forest.
“How did-” Grappler started.
“Act now, questions later, white boy. If what players said is true, the damn thing shows up ‘round nightfall. So we wait a few minutes. You’re gonna swing in front of it and distract it.”
“And when a player spots us?”
“Doubt it. Charge’ll ram into the deer and shove it to me. It’ll die the second it makes contact.”
“You? Seriously?” Charger laughed. “You really think you can still kill outside the void?”
“Wanna test?”
The void explorers went silent at that.
“That’s what I thought. Go get ‘em, Hook.”
Grappler rolled their eyes. “Not my name,” they called out as their hook caught on a tree and they swung towards it.
“This is the worst fuckin’ plan I’ve ever seen,” Charger commented.
“Ey, you wanted this. We had to cover the kid’s ears based on your reaction. Don’t you want this?”
Honestly, Charger wasn’t sure anymore.
Nighttime came, and the deer made its appearance. It stumbled out from behind the trees, scanning the area for any idiotic player that hadn’t thought to hide.
Up in the trees, Grappler actually hesitated. They’d never touched anything outside their game before; what if it was lethal?
The deer started to leave the area, and Grappler made what they thought was the stupidest decision of their life. They swung down from the trees and right in front of the deer’s face, catching its attention. Its gaze followed the void explorer before it fell to the ground, Charger ramming into the back of its legs. Telefragged teleported in front of the deer, siren blaring once more.
They made contact, and the deer seemed to… ragdoll. Nothing special.
“It just ragdolls here? Boring as fuck, man…” Telefragger groaned. “You two usually disintegrate or somethin’ like that.”
“Would’ve been better off without that information,” Grappler landed on the ground, unhooking their hook from the tree. “Just get us out of here. I don’t want a player to see us.”
“You’re boring as hell outside the void, y’know that, right?” Telefragger grabbed the explorers’ wrists again, teleporting out of the forest and back into the void.
In the distance, footsteps were heard. Two players had heard the siren and their gazes fell upon the deer.
“What happened???”